Role models of greatness.

Here you will discover the back stories of kings, titans of industry, stellar athletes, giants of the entertainment field, scientists, politicians, artists and heroes – all of them gay or bisexual men. If their lives can serve as role models to young men who have been bullied or taught to think less of themselves for their sexual orientation, all the better. The sexual orientation of those featured here did not stand in the way of their achievements.

Tuesday, December 24, 2019

Clark Gable

When Clark Gable (at left, circa 1927) first arrived in Hollywood in 1925, he would do anything or use anyone to advance his career. His first two wives were decidedly unglamorous older women; he was a kept man living the lifestyle of a star. As soon as Gable touched the limelight, he abandoned his second wife and followed wherever his penis led. He tore through Hollywood’s women with the appetite of a starving teenager, with one notable exception.

Gable had one homosexual encounter that is well documented. The great silent film star Billy Haines, who was the most popular male film star of 1930, was the hub of gay Hollywood. He told all his friends about his sexual hookup with Clark Gable in the late 1920s, which was unusual, since Haines never bragged about such things. Haines knew first hand the damage that could be caused by a public knowledge of homosexuality. Joan Crawford confirmed the story, and her testament holds up under scrutiny because she was the lifelong best friend of both men. She had no reason to lie about either star, and she cherished the friendship of both. Billy Haines, who is today just a footnote in the annals of early Hollywood lore, could open doors to up and coming actors, so it is understandable the Gable might drop trou in exchange for the contacts and introductions Haines could provide. Haines absolutely transformed Joan Crawford, who was a rather slutty dance whore before her total makeover by Billy Haines. For details, look for my post on William Haines in the sidebar to the right.

More than ten years later Gable avenged his gay encounter. Hollywood was awash with both homosexuals and Jews, and Gable let it be known that he held both in disdain. By 1939 Gable had come to personify the image of a super macho male star. During filming of Gone with the Wind, Gable was uncomfortable by the presence of Billy Haines, who visited the set as a guest of director George Cukor (who was both homosexual and Jewish). When Gable overheard the comment, “George Cukor is directing one of Billy’s old tricks,” Gable walked off the set and vowed not to return until Cukor was replaced. A little too sensitive, perhaps?

MGM decided it needed Gable more than Cukor for this project, and Victor Fleming was ushered in as replacement director, even though Cukor had already worked for two years on preproduction and early filming. Although Gone with the Wind became one of the great films of all time, the incident didn’t harm the career of George Cukor, who immediately began working on The Women and continued to make top grossing films.

Gable, below, circa 1931, without a moustache (or cigar). Gable died at the age of 59 in 1960, before his last film The Misfits (with costar Marilyn Monroe) was released.


From a 1939 press report:

Clark Gable and Carole Lombard met first in 1932, while making a picture called No Man of Her Own. Gable was then a novice leading man, only four years removed from the career of bumming, lumberjacking and cheap stock company acting. Carole Lombard was an ex-Mack Sennett comedienne trying hard to make a reputation as a serious actress. Both were married to others. Gable's wife was a well-to-do Texas widow ten years his senior. Lombard's husband was Actor William Powell. At this first meeting, neither Gable nor Lombard showed any interest in the other.

Their next meeting of importance occurred at a party given by Hollywood's famed Countess di Frasso in 1935. By this time, Carole Lombard had divorced William Powell and Gable was no longer living with his wife. Countess di Frasso's guests had been asked to come in something white. Carole Lombard arrived in a white ambulance, wearing a white nightgown, lying on a white cot which was carried in by three white-clad interns. She and Gable danced together all evening. Later, Lombard had the ambulance decorated with a red heart and sent it to Gable. He had the motor supercharged and drove about in it for two years.

Later on, to show her affection for Gable, Carole Lombard sent him hams with his picture painted on them. He reciprocated with a gift of a fire engine. Soon Gable and Lombard called each other "Ma" and "Pa."

The progress of the Gable-Lombard romance was apparently impeded by Mrs. Gable until January, 1939, when she announced that she would sue for a divorce. When the divorce was granted, March 7, Clark Gable and Carole Lombard at last admitted they would marry, without saying when.

In March (1939) Clark Gable got into his cream-colored roadster, picked up Carole Lombard and drove 350 miles east to Kingman, Ariz. There they bought a license from an awestruck clerk named Viola Olsen, and proceeded to the home of a Methodist Episcopal minister named Kenneth M. Engle. In the presence of his wife and a high-school principal named Cate, who later defined their behavior as "lovey-dovey," Mr. Engle made Clark Gable and Carole Lombard man & wife. Gable wore blue, Lombard grey.

Immediately after the ceremony, Mr. & Mrs. Gable started back to Hollywood. They told reporters they would not take a honeymoon until Gable was through making Gone With the Wind, and Lombard her next picture, Memory of Love, for RKO. They expected, within two weeks, to move into Gable's ranch house in San Fernando Valley. They did not expect to call it "the House of the Seven Gables." Asked whether she would retire and have children, Carole Lombard blushed.

Next day, Gable was back at work and the Gable-Lombard romance took its place among Hollywood classics of its kind – Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford (divorced), Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Joan Crawford (divorced), John Barrymore and Dolores Costello (divorced), Charlie Chaplin and Paulette Goddard (undefined).

Trivia: After Gable was crowned "The King of Hollywood", Carole Lombard joked, “If his c*ck was one inch shorter, they’d be calling him the Queen of Hollywood. God knows I love Clark, but he’s the worst lay in the town.”

46 comments:

  1. So cute..loved them both...crying here just a bit

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  2. innocent bystanderJuly 19, 2014 at 2:59 AM

    I'd heard the same Lombard comment, only differently: it was Tallulah Bankhead saying "If his dick was one inch shorter, his name would be Betty Grable, not Clark Gable." Who knows? Maybe they both said it. Maybe Brando, Newman and Dean said it, as well!

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  3. I also heard he was bad in bed -- but what a hunk!

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  4. My understanding about MGM's dismissing Cukor as director was that it was because filming was far, far behind schedule, and what he had shot had no energy, no pacing. Add to that the fact that Gable was unhappy being directed by a "woman's director", and Cukor was out - Gable's hunting buddy Victor Fleming was in. I knew Gable was a vocal homophobe, using his clout to have obviously gay men thrown off the set, but I had never heard of him having had a homosexual encounter. Makes sense in a way though, it's usually those men who are deeply closeted who are the most vocally homophobic.

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    1. I don't know, maybe. But I'm just learning about Billy Haines here. If what's here is true, how was Haines any different than any other powerful person demanding sex for trade? Perhaps Gable (not a particular fav of mine btw) was just reacting late once he had a little power to wield as revenge.

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  5. The way you have written this about Lombard & Gable is amusing & inaccurate. They were all ready sharing an address at the *Gable ranch house* that you mention & in fact it was bought with Carole Lombard's money. Because Gable would cry *poverty* where cash was involved, so
    in addition to being a dud in the sack seems the *king* was also a cheap
    *rick & notorious womanizer. I m currently reading a bio by Hardy on Gable
    and it is loaded with *dirt* on this guy. Also Loretta Young who bore their secret daughter was visited by him when the child was a newborn, Young forwarded info about a bank account for the little tyke & gable never contributed a single dime ! He never had much appeal for me, his head is disproportionately large, ears protrude & has a very *oily* appearance, a good actor though !

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  6. Gable wanted to know his daughter. He wasn't allowed to see her, because of the moral codes in Loretta's contract. Gable wasn't the least bit gay! He had 2 stars who had inordinate crushes on him...Crawford and Haines who conjured up a story as a result of being rejected by him. He had bad teeth and bad breath according to another starlet, Lana Turner, who was also rejected by him. Gable had the longest relationship of his life with a women through 4 marriages, including his with Lombard's. She was the gorgeous Virginia Grey, with whom she was madly in love . So check the facts and learn the truth with those who are really in the know, instead of hack writers who weren't even born when he The King of Hollywood was alive.

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    1. From your blogger: OK, Ms. Bradshaw, I get so tired of this. So YOU were there first hand to know that Billy Haines and Gable never engaged in a homosexual act? I am so happy when an absolute authority responds to my posts. First of all , my post never said Gable was gay - not even a little, a lot, or otherwise. Billy Haines was a powerful man in Hollywood, successfully transitioning from silents to talkies,and he knew every power broker in town. Many unknowns participated in a bit of casting couch activity to get ahead. That certainly did not make them gay.

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    2. By the way, Billy Haines was never the most popular male film star in any era. He had a bit of a run in the Silents and later became a pariah as a result of his relationship with another man. I appreciate and acknowledge he was open about his homosexual relationship as were many others pre WW 2, but he violated the moral codes of the old Hollywood system and became a very successful furniture maker and interior designer to many of the stars.

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    4. From your blogger:
      Our dear Ms. Bradshaw. Your ignorance is again showing. The 1930 Quigley Poll, a survey of film exhibitors, listed Haines as the top box office attraction in the country. Read my post about William Haines - link is in the sidebar at right.

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    5. I also read David Brets's "Clark Gable" and he states that Clark had an encounter with Billy Haines...however he also states that Billy himself was the origiantor of this statement...I personally dont believe it nor do I believe what was said about Clarks uncomfortable feelings about CUCOR...I have seen numerous cast members of gone with the wind talk about what caused cukor to leave and it had nothing to do with Clarks supposed embarrasment....of a gay encounter with Billy Haines, also when and where did Joan Crawford co sign that B.S about Billy haines and Clark.....I ahve seen numerous Joan Crawford interviews and nothing was ever said about Clarks supposed gay encounter in fact Joan raved about Clarks sexual prowess for her...not Billy Haines...you always have an idiot out there either starting these stupid rumors or agreeing with them...I doubt very much that Clark would of consented to another mans advances...i do however believe many gay men would of tried to pull it with clark...because he was just that handsom.

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  7. So what? The Quigley was just one poll. He was losing his steam by the early 30s.

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    1. Well, I'll tell you what. My post says that Haines was the most popular male star of 1930. You made the statement that Haines was never the most popular male star of any era, and I mentioned the Quigley Poll refuting your claim. Even Wikipedia mentions that fact that Haines was the most popular males star of 1930. My post on William Haines states clearly that he was on the wane by the early thirties. I never implied that Haines remained the most popular male star after 1930. What is your point, other than refusing to admit that you were wrong about Haines? I read every word of Wm. J Mann's 400+ page 1998 biography of Haines: "Wisecracker." It was not some salacious hack job. Most of the information in this post comes from that book. I've revealed my sources. What are yours, other than a snooty attitude and a refusal to admit you were wrong? You have yet to state a source - just your sharp opinions. An opinion does not make anything true or false.

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    2. your pretty insistant that Clark had a gay encounter...I have seen many interviews with Crawford, Cukor,Okie, and other cast from various Gable films..and have read 3 different biographies ...the only time a gay encounter is mentioned is when the author himself is gay

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    3. ...and to follow your logic, when this gay encounter is refuted, it's only when the author is heterosexual?
      P.S. Learn the difference between "your" and "you're" and then get back to me

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  8. Great article. I'm a huge fan of Gable. It's disappointing that he was a complete homophobe and anti-semite, but so many great actors have the worst shortcomings. I find it odd in 2016, whether or not he had this homosexual encounter seems to get some readers up in arms. That's just awful. You reported information and facts as you understand them. People are free to read from other sources and gather all the info, but the bottom line is the only people who know if Gable had a homosexual encounter are those in the room - and they're dead. More importantly, who cares? Gable is still one of the greatest actors of all time and whether he was Gay, Straight or Bi-sexual, it doesn't matter. It's interesting to read and I thank you for the article which is far better written than a response from someone who had stated they were writing a book. - (as this is posted under both mine and the hubby's name - let me make clear this is Melissa Garza speaking)

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    1. I’ve been studying Clark Gable all my life. A lot of men liked him in a gay way, and I doubt she rebuffed someone offering him head. He was very attracted to bi women like Carole & Joan Crawford, so stories about his prejudice seem silly to me. Especially when we learn how close he was with (lesbian) Hattie McDaniel-and how he championed her. This is not what gay phobes do!
      If Gable was so emphatically anti-gay, he wouldn’t have co-starred with gay Spencer Tracey & gay Myrna Loy repeatedly & comfortably. The team’s ‘Test Pilot’ about a thruple, where both Loy & Tracey are in love with Gable.
      Check this stuff out, people.
      Hey-I met gay George Raft for dinner at the Plaza when I was 12 and talked Gable & Lombard. He said he was in love with her & hated Gable. Blamed Gable for her death.
      I also knew gay Robert Stack. Went to his house and saw his collection of Lombard & Gable photos. He adored them both. Good times!
      Cynthia Cirile
      I’m on all the SM 😉



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    2. Myrna Loy was a lesbian? Who was her lover?

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  9. Only one place say Billie Haines was most popular in Hollywoods leading men and that's an LGBT article! Be more thorough next time dear! We readers are tired of sloppy journalism!

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  10. ...And your blogger is tired of ignorant comments disputing the facts of my research. Note these two sources, and that's just for starters Neither is an "LGBT article," as you claim.

    Wisecracker: The Life and Times of William Haines
    by William J. Mann (1999)

    From Wikipedia: The 1930 Quigley Poll, a survey of film exhibitors, listed Haines as the top box office attraction in the country.

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  11. One encounter or affair doesn't define a person's lifestyle or orientation. The man obviously loved women. Why people want to go so far out of their way to think badly of someone 50/60/70 years after the fact is totally beyond me. Let the man rest in peace.

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    1. From your blogger: Nowhere in this post do I suggest that one same sex encounter "defined" Gable's lifestyle or sexual orientation. I go on at length about his love of women and sexual relations with women. Nor am I going out of my way to suggest that this one encounter is a basis to think badly of him. It is just a sorry truth of the "casting couch" practice that still dogs the Hollywood system. I did not even publish a comment sent to me last week from a reader railing against me for my "wishful thinking" in posting this article, and that it was clearly a result of my self loathing for being homosexual. What poppycock. At the onset of his career Gable allowed himself to be a kept man and allowed Billy Haines to cozy up to his privates. That's all. Not homosexual, not bisexual -- and I never implied such.

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    2. Why feel badly about someone being gay or having had sex with the same sex. No shame there. Tells the reader you are homophobic.

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  12. In his early Hollywood years Gable "escorted" gay men. Certainly not for the sex. For the money.

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    1. Now THAT I believe. I actually think this is what actors did back in the day to survive. I liken it to prison rape, they're not homosexual but they don't have other outlets. Back in the 1930s the ones with the purse string, many of whom were real homosexual, would prey upon new starving actors. I also remember grace Kelly s father who said being an actor is not much better than being a street walker.i understand why now

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  13. I question that this picture (1927) is really of Gable. Gable has full lower lip, a more rounded chin and where's the clef in his chin?

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  14. Whoever, on this blog, is saying that Clark was gay, you should be horse-whipped. You know NOTHING except your own uptight insecurity concerning the sex act. The text above is so obviously written by a fruit. Were you ever under Gable's bed? Did you follow him around? Do you believe anything anybody tells you? Let me answer that last question for you -- YES! You and any other fool that spreads rumors like this are a cancer. And even if Clark did have 'sexual activity' of some kind with another guy at some time in his life, not only is it NO BUSINESS OF YOURS, it also doesn't mean a damned thing as far as his personal-choice sexuality goes. Why don't you pathetic fruits just stick your heads back up your asses and watch your little fruit porn and leave the gossip to the big boys who can handle themselves.

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    1. From your blogger:
      A bit touchy, are we?

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    2. Considering this comment as well as a few others I have to wonder why they are even looking at this website. ".....leave the gossip to the big boys who can handle themselves"? What does that even mean? Did "Me" (the poster) come on here to see "the gossip"? Gee, how titillating!

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  15. I always find it amusing that so many acted shocked when they here a big macho actor had a homosexual experience, I think you’d be shocked on how common this is today with MAJOR stars

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  16. I guess no one has heard the one about Gable receiving a trick towel and a bar of Lifebuoy soap. Guess he was a bit stinky. Read Scotty Bower's book FULL SERVICE. That should whip up some comments. Look at today's Hollywood switch- hitters.

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  17. Terry, before I get to commenting about the Clark Gable article, let me thank you for taking the time and effort to post this wonderful blog.
    And regarding the Clark Gable article above, now it makes sense how it all fit in together, and the background appears closer to truth. That aspect would explain so many different reasons behind what was going on.

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  18. There are also some rumors online that claim Gable was of mixed race ancestry....who cares about what they say about you, at least they are talking about you ��

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  19. Terry where did you get that Billy Haines "made over" Joan Crawford? And really, a slutty dance whore? Seemed a little beneath you.

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    1. Well, it wasn't my imagination. I read several books about the Haines/Crawford relationship, but the best is WISECRACKER by Wm. J. Mann. Out of print, but used copies go for as little as $10. You'll love it and be enlightened in the process. Cheers.

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  20. Clark Gable's birth certificate listed him as female. I always wondered if maybe that had something to do with his shortcomings that Mz Lombard referred to. I enjoyed your article, matched what I have read as well. Thank you

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  21. He used and abused people to get where he was, he was an antisemite and a homophobe, and was himself embarrassed at the homosexual fling he had early in his career.
    Like most major stars, in real life they're pretty nasty individuals who crave attention.
    People need to stop elevating them to god like status, when in reality they're greedy little grubs obsessed with themselves and wouldn't give a rats ass if one of thier fans died..
    They've got millions more

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  22. He was a woman not a man’s man

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  23. It comes as no surprise, what do you believe in or not?? There are many versions of hundereds of Hollywood stars--were they gay or were they straight? Is there a real point to you being GAY then you're immediatley less human, what is the reality, the fact we humans for centuries have decided to hide the truth and hide nature mainly with the help of religious methods has severly crippled us.

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  24. I believe that Gable did whatever he had to do to break into early Hollywood. Several predators controlled various parts of the business and so many up and coming actors/actresses were exploited. Studio executives were monsters and used their positions of power to use and abuse both young women and men alike. I am very interested in this Gable biography and so will put it on my must-read list.

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  25. IMAO. Where’s the documentation? Word of mouth is not documentation. Billy Haines was part of George Cukors’ clique that spread malicious lies about Gable because they blamed Gable for kicking Cukor off of GWTW. Cukor knew vey well what the truth but didn’t want to admit he failed and Selznick fired him. He was a horrible, disgusting man for trying to wreck someone’s life with lies. And you too for repeating such lies when Gable can’t speak on his behalf.

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  26. Where's your documentation that Cukor tried to ruin Gable's life? In your own words, "word of mouth is not documentation".

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  27. These comments make me laugh. Clarke Gable was a great actor, but have these people read about his early days and really why he was uncomfortable with George Cukor ?(have I spelt that right ? )

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  28. Nope. From a true Gable scholar. This is a total lie made up by Billy Haines.

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